2024 - West Australia

Sat 18 May 24 - Rockingham - @KJ's  Almost a carbon copy of yesterday's weather. 18 to 27 Deg C, clear with a gentle NE breeze - another glorious day. Not much to report today, expect it was much less stressful than yesterday. It started with a drive to the Rockingham foreshore where I went for a short walk while KJ did the Park Run. The turnout was surprising with an estimated 300 competitors. I might have to take up running again and try it. It looks like a great social activity. After the run, we returned to KJ's for brunch with about 10 others to farewell Edna who was returning home to Kapunda today. It was lovely sitting on the deck at the back enjoying lots of good food and good coffee with good company. At 1130 KJ had to leave to take his mother to the airport. He then remained in Perth for the afternoon and evening to setup and photograph the HMAS Anzac  decommissioning ball at Optus Stadium. In the afternoon, Noel did some baking while I went for a bike ride to Por

Fri 17 May 24 - Rockingham - @KJ's  15 to 28 Deg C, clear with gentle SE breeze all day - another glorious day....spoiled by ongoing car and caravan issues. Lets just say the day did not go to plan. We were up early, packed and had van at the Rockingham RV on time by 08:30am. There were two PCU components to be replaced, one external and the other the main display board on the front of the fridge which required the removal of both fridge and freezer doors to instal. Essentially replacing he PCU was a waste of time and money ($375 for the part and $140 for one hour's labour), because it didn't fix anything. The fridge continues to cut out and can only be restarted by wriggling a few wires to trigger a response behind the fridge. Despite being told by two RV repair businesses that the issue was 99% likely to be PCU, it clearly isn't. I knew it was a risk which I accepted and unfortunately I have to accept. We returned to KJ's to set up again at the front of his house,

Thu 16 May 24 - Rockingham - @KJ's (Chris's Birthday) 16 Deg C, clear with a light to gentle E to ENE Wind reaching 26 Deg C, another glorious day of weather. I was awake early to take a 0645 call from Uncle Helmut's GP in QLD, mainly to close the loop on a planned surgery that will no longer go ahead. I then went for a short walk, followed by a call to Chris for his birthday. At about 08:30, KJ and I rode along Warnbro Sound to meet Noeleene, Edna and Nikon for breakfast at Pengo's Cafe located at the Penguin Island Visitor Centre. It was a great location for breakfast on a stunning morning, unfortunately the coffee and breakfast left a lot to be desired. Nevertheless, it was very pleasant sitting and chatting in warm sunshine beside a beautiful beach. After breakfast, the ladies returned home via the bakery, while KJ and I rode back home along Warnbro Sound again. Waiting impatiently for a call from Ford to say my car was ready, I logged on and did some work, before g

Wed 15 May 24 - Rockingham - @KJ's (Perth) 15 Deg C reaching 25 Deg C, clear, and a slight E to SE breeze most of the day. An absolutely glorious day. It's been a long day, and I'm tired, so the narrative is short. I woke at 01:00 to Kingsley and Edna arriving back home from Perth airport by Uber, and after going out to greet them, I went straight back to bed. Noel and I were up again at 06:00am, and by 07:00am we were driving into Perth to return the hire car. If I had known it was going to be so busy, I would have returned the car yesterday outside peak period traffic, because the  53km took more than 1.5hrs. After eventually handing back the car, we set off for coffee to discuss our plan of attack for the day.  We had coffee at a nearby cafe, then went for a pleasant walk around the city centre and through Elizabeth Quay, until we got hungry and made our way up to the Hay St Mall where we sat down at a nice cafe for sustenance. From here, Noel went and explored the insid

Tue 14 May 24 - Rockingham - @KJ's 18 to 24 Deg C, few clouds with a light SE Wind - another stunning day. Apart from a morning walk including a bit of photo therapy and watching a pod of dolphins playing off the beach, followed by a morning brew and drive around the Rockingham coast with Noel and a leisurely bike ride in the afternoon, it was a very pleasant day - for me at least. Noel on the other hand kept herself very busy cooking, baking my favourite healthy fruit and nut slice, slow cooker Beef Ragout to freeze for when we get going again, and Chicken Korma Curry with Lentils and Chick Peas for dinner tomorrow night. We have to return the hire car to Perth by 09:00am tomorrow, so we will take the opportunity to have a day in Perth and look around, then catch a train back to Rockingham in the afternoon. Kingsley and his mother Edna are due to return home from their trip to Norfolk Island very early tomorrow morning, so dinner tomorrow night is sorted. There was no further upda